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Don't Dam Salmon to Extinction
May 19, 2010 | Dams & Dam Removal
Amy Souers Kober
Senior Director of Communications
Tomorrow is the day.
The Obama administration is poised to make a decision tomorrow that could change the fate of endangered species in this country. Federal officials will release their salmon plan for the Columbia and Snake rivers. Will the plan honor the Endangered Species Act and put these iconic fish on the path to recovery? Or will the plan – which has grown out of an illegal Bush administration plan – doom wild salmon to extinction and weaken the critical safety net that is the ESA?
Because they return to the biggest, highest and best-protected habitat in America, endangered Snake River salmon are slated as the West’s best chance to save salmon for future generations in an environment threatened by climate change. These cold, clear waters spanning three Western states — Washington, Oregon and Idaho -- will remain cold under warming climates, protecting these one-of-a-kind salmon with a one-of-a-kind habitat. Making the wrong decision on these rivers would effectively dam (pun intended) these salmon to extinction.
The Columbia-Snake Rivers may not be in your own backyard, but the effects of this decision certainly will be. Take action today to save salmon and protect America’s endangered fish and wildlife.
These fish are fighting right now to survive — tackling a gauntlet of dams, escaping predators and climbing higher than any salmon on Earth. They’re doing their part. Now let’s do ours.
Save Wild Salmon from Epicocity Project on Vimeo.
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Related Information
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Video: Restoring America’s Rivers: Preparing for the Future (03/31/10)
PRESS RELEASES
White Salmon River to run free tomorrow with breach of Condit Dam (10/25/11)
World’s biggest dam removal begins this week (09/13/11)
Comments List
Submitted by Lochsa at: May 25, 2010
Great post, Amy! I just found out that National Geographic has now decided to spotlight these amazing fish. Check it out and get involved: http://bit.ly/9hPGqI
Submitted by idahofisherman at: May 20, 2010
The credibility of the Obama Administration in conservation and environmental affairs is at stake. Wild salmon recovery is the biggest conservation issue in the Pacific NW, and in fact, in all Pacific salmon states. The fishing industry has supported jobs, families, and towns from San Francisco to Alaska, and deep inland as far east as central Idaho. Many fishing jobs have been lost in recent decades, and many more are at risk today. The Snake/Columbia River offers the greatest single opportunity for the Obama Administration to advance real salmon recovery here - and by doing so, support all the families and towns in the Pacific NW that depend on sustainable fisheries. Will the Obama Administration move toward achieving better balance in the Snake/Columbia watershed? Or, will it continue the Bush Administration policies of denying the value of wild salmon, in favor of a few obsolete federal dams that the region can so easily live without?